British movie fans have voted Mickey Rourke man of the year for his portrayal of the swaggering, down-on-his-luck Marv in Sin City.

Batman Begins, the most recent adventure of the comic superhero starring Christian Bale in the title role, was voted top film of 2005. The movie fought off competition from Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith to land the No. 1 spot in the poll of 15,000 film fans by Total Film magazine.

Scottish actor Ian McDiarmid, who played Supreme Chancellor Palpatine in Revenge of the Sith, was named best movie villain; 11-year-old Dakota Fanning was named best child actor for her role in Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds; and the nut-eating squirrels in Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory were named best movie animal.

"Batman Begins was a smart but funny reinvention of an iconic figure and had fantastic performances. It was also excellently directed by Christopher Nolan," said Total Film editor Nev Pierce.

"Film fans want more and Batman Begins overcomes the horrible taste that previous outing, Batman & Robin, left in people's mouths," Pierce said.